By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — As a season opener, it doesn’t get much better for Watauga women’s tennis team than its 9-0 sweep of East Wilkes on Aug. 16 — unless, of course, you are new head coach Phoebe Boeschen.
“I am very proud of our girls for the first match of the season,” said Boeschen. “Obviously, there were a lot of nerves going into it. A 9-0 team score sounds dominating, but several of those matches were much tighter. That said, I am really proud of the outcome.”
With six seniors on the team last year graduating, Boeschen knows that she is inheriting a lot of new faces to the program and only a couple with much varsity playing experience.
Among the veteran returnees is junior No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles player, Siena Davidson, who dispatched East Wilkes’ No. 1 singles player, sophomore Ava Darnell, 6-2, 6-2.
Moving into the No. 2 singles slot for the season opener was Watauga freshman Addison Cohen. She had more of a tussle vs. the Cardinals’ No. 2, freshman Emerson Simmons. The match was more of a see-saw battle, with Cohen taking the first set, 6-1, but Simmons rallying to earn the second set, 6-7, including a 3-7 tie breaker. Cohen rebounded with a tense, 10-8 third set victory.
Boeschen is building upon on strong Watauga program led previously by head coach Jennifer Pillow. She brings an accomplished playing and coaching pedigree of her own to the Pioneers.
Boeschen played high school tennis for Rock Ridge HS in Columbia, Mo., mentored by head coach Ben Loeb, who was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. Having won 1,212 dual meets and 19 state championships, he is regarded as the winningest tennis coach of all time in Missouri.
Wataiga’s new head coach played college tennis at Missouri State University, then moved into the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Southeast Missouri State, then high school coaching stops where she mentored several doubles team, women and men, to high finishes at the state level.
“I am really excited to be a part of this program,” said Boeschen. “There are a lot of new faces — we have 24 student athletes competing for spots — but these girls are very athletic and they work really hard at their tennis. I am very grateful for this opportunity.”
FULL TEAM SCORES
Singles
- No. 1: Siena Davidson (WAT) def. Ava Darnell (EW), 6-2, 6-2
- No. 2: Addison Cohen (WAT) def. Emerson Simmons (EW), 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 10-8
- No. 3: Larson Berry (WAT) def. Valerie Schubart (EW), 6-2, 6-3
- No. 4: Kennedy Moore (WAT) def. Kali Cook (EW), 6-4, 6-3
- No. 5: Fiona Russell (WAT) def. Diella Ward (EW), 6-2, 6-1
- No. 6: Abbi Shuman (WAT) def. Kelsea Absher (EW), 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
- No. 1: Davidson-Cohen (WAT) def. Darnell-Simmons (EW), 8-1
- No. 2: Berry-Moore (WAT) def. Schubart-Cook (EW), 8-2
- No. 3: Russell-Shuman (WAT) def. Ward-Absher (EW), 9-8 (7-1)
